Multiplicity
by Child-of-the-Dawn
Summary: Skaara Sha're O'Neill has lived on the refugee planet Rhea since she was five. But during an attack by the Goa'uld Ba'al, she slips through the Quantum Mirror and into a universe where her parents are alive...angst will ensue.
1. Skaara of the Jaffa

Title: Multiplicity

Rating: K+

Characters/Pairings: Sam/Jack (both worlds), Teal'c, Daniel, OC female, Hammond, others.

Summary: Another time, another dimension. Skaara Sha're O'Neill is left alone among the ruins of her

village on a Jaffa-Human world. Seeking shelter in their SGC, Skara find her way into

another universe through a certain mirror and into a world she struggles to accept.

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**Chapter 1: Skara of the Jaffa**

Loop, loop, loop, pull one, loop, pull two, loop. Loop, loop, pull one, loop, pull two, loop.

Skaara's fingers began to pick up the memory, hands sliding along the wool and bone hook as she began her third new blanket in preparation for the coming winter. Winters on Rhea, her home, were often harsher than any on Earth's populated land masses, and she knew she would need them. Things had been different this year, the chill coming a month sooner than in years past. Or at least since she had lived there.

Since she was five (_Loop, loop, pull one, loop, pull two, loop._) she had lived with her Ari'ii—her uncle and closest family—on this planet. But snatches of memory often haunted her dreams. In them she saw a tawny haired man with glasses making silly faces at her, or holding up a book with strange writing, his face excited and animated. She saw her mother, a woman with short blond hair, humming gently to herself as she moved about a garden by a lake. Sometimes she even remembered Ari'ii (_loop, loop, pull one, loop, pull two, loop_.) and her father, the latter looking exasperated as the former stared at him in puzzlement.

Loop, loop, pull one, loop, pull two, lo--

"Skaara Sha're!"

Skaara dropped the hook and half made blanket at the sound of Ari'ii's voice from the main room. Gently she flattened the creation out on her bed and pushed aside the curtain of her door.

"I'm here Ari'i," she said softly. Before her, the large frame of her Ari'ii sat before her a raw rabbit perched over the hearth. She could already smell it cooking.

"Would you like to choose the vegetable this time?" He asked her, turning around with the same calming expression on his face she'd always known. The gold symbol of their people shined for a moment against his dark skin.

"Ok. Oh..wheres Rya'c? He said he'd be home by now."

"In the village square." Skaara let herself copy his calm expression out of habit. The village square...there really was no physical center to their home. But all knew by the tone and the words where the village square was: SGC. Their hopes and will lay within the underground confines of the last free Stargate Command, where her Ari'ii and the last remnants of Earth's defense worked tirelessly against Ba'al's forces. Rya'c's involvement was new, his wife having been killed not a month ago personally by Ba'al himself. It worried her sometimes. She missed the Rya'c who smiled.

She nodded to Ari'ii and plucked her cloak from it's peg on the wall. She gently lifted the heavy leather flap from the doorway, breathing in deep. The air was crisp, but not terribly cold for once that week. It felt good on her cheeks after the warmth of her home.

Skaara looked out over the village. Their home was perched halfway up a soft, rolling hill from which she could see the settlement. Light flickered through rough glass windows in dozens of little tent homes below. She walked down the dirt path slowly as her eyes adjusted to the semi darkness. The small garden sat on a flat stretch of soil halfway down the slope. She smiled as she bent down along the first row of Earthian carrots, deftly plucking a few from the ground and wrapping them up in the front of her tunic. Gripping the bunched tunic in one hand she grasped at a rock sticking out of the ground and pulled herself to a standing position. She was about to turn back up the hill when she heard humming. A few feet from her garden stood the first of the many village dwellings spreading our along the clearing. A woman passed across the one large window, a little girl in her arms.

Skaara felt a flash of recognition pass through her. Suddenly she could feel the warmth of a woman's neck as she nuzzled into shoulder length blond hair. She was humming a familiar lullaby. There were words to it, Skaara knew without knowing, but all she could hear was the melody. A feeling of safely enveloped her, but the moment fled as Skaara lost her footing, stumbling forward back into the twilight of reality. Sniffing once, she hurried back up the path and into the real warmth of the main room.

"Carrots?" she offered immediately, trying to keep her voice neutral as she'd been taught. One look into Ari'ii's eyes, however, confirmed she'd failed. Then again, she rarely was successful in keeping anything from him. He had known her since the second she was born, and had been the third person to hold her newborn form in his arms after her parents.

"That is well, Skaara. Bring them here," he said evenly. She did as he asked, taking a knife from the wall to cut them with. Wordlessly they worked until the stew was simmering. In that silence the expected statement came.

"You had a memory, did you not?"

"Yes, Ari'ii."

"And it caused you pain."

She nodded," it was mother, humming some melody I can barely recall. I...," she trailed off, unable to put into words how it made her feel to see the mother and child and remember that she hadn't always be without a mother. Her Ari'ii had loved, but she too had died in Skaara's infancy. As a result, Skaara knew nothing of women other than the pesky biological issues her Ari'iay had explained to her. But Vala Mal Doran-Jackson was not exactly maternal, and was God knew where fighting the good fight. Skaara hadn't seen her since for six years, the last memory from her tenth birthday when Vala felt it necessary to forewarn her of her monthlies.

A warm hand drug her from her thoughts, and she turned to see the rare sight of a loving Teal'c at her shoulder. His eyes told her it was ok to feel envious of what had been stolen from her, but there was also that terrible sadness she knew came from his own loss. Her parents, her other close Ari'ii Daniel, Vala, and her adopted grandfather George were all Teal'c had besides his distant son. The deaths of her parents and the scattering of the others had been devastating for him. Her mother had been the first woman to not jump away from him, the first to smile at him and call him friend. Her father her Ari'ii had instantly respected, both for his commanding presence and the trust he'd so freely given.

"I miss your parents too. But I see them in you, and so they are alive. Take pride and grow strong, and you will honor them well," he said. He smiled in that strong way of his, reaching out to cup her cheek," I am proud to be your Ari'ii, Skaara Ska're O'Neill. Remember that." Then, as quickly as the smile had come, it vanished and Ari'ii was back at the fire, ladling some of the piping hot beef stew into three camping bowls. As if on cue, Rya'c came through the flap, granting her a soft smile of greeting that didn't meet his eyes, just as it had been since the day Kar'yn was killed. Together the three of them ate their evening meal, and soon another day ended as Skaara said her goodnight and retreated back to her room.


	2. Nightmare

**Chapter 2: Nightmare**

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**

"_And all shall turn/ To silver glass/ A light on the water/ All souls pass/ Into the west..."_

_So warm, that beloved voice. Seeping into the very air around her. Skaara snuggled closer to the body that carried her. Her Mama turned for the fifth time since she awoke, sniffling from a nightmare._

_Water...there was water nearby, reflecting the moonlight._

_Skaara loved the water. The gentle sound of water sloshing against the muddy banks._

"_How is she, Samantha?"_

_Daddy. Daddy's voice! Skaara turned her head to the sound, arms unwinding from her mother's neck and reaching out for the shaded form of her father. He took her, arms so strong as he turned her sideways, one arm supporting all her weight. She could see Mama's blond hair, somewhat silvery under the stars._

"_SKAARAAAA!!!" Suddenly Mama was Vala, running towards where she sat. The metallic walls of SGC glowed an eerie red in the light of the alarms. Vala scooped her up and Skaara hung onto her, terrified of the smoke and the klaxons roaring all over. Her Aunt pushed Skaara's face into the hood of her jacket with one hand while holding her up in one arm, but it didn't stop her from seeing what had lain behind her._

_Mama lay on the floor, beautiful blue eyes staring soullessly into hers. _

"_MAMAAAAAAAAAA!!!"_

Skaara shot up in bed, one hand already muffling her scream. She immediately began to breath as if within a Kell-no-Reem. It calmed her body, but her mind could not focus. She stumbled as she attempted to roll out of bed, tossing suddenly suffocating furs towards the wall side of her bed. She could feel the sweat sliding down her arms and chest under her nightshirt.

Shaking still, Skaara made her way into the main room, past the dying embers of the night's fire, barely taking time to grab her cloak before going outside. She didn't go far, choosing to sit on the grassy slope near the dwelling. Laying the cloak down, she reclined enough to look up at the stars.

"_Out there's a big wide universe, kiddo."_

"_Wan' go!"_

"_Not till you're forty, kiddo."_

Skaara let out a sound like something between a sob and an exhale at the flash of memory. She'd had them all her life. It was natural, her Ari'ii said, to have memories return. Uncle Daniel had told her, last time she'd seen him, that trauma buried things she'd otherwise have easy access to. Things would come unexpectedly around her unconscious block, he'd said. Skaara wished they wouldn't. Every memory, good or bad, hurt. Her parents lived only in her mind and those of her extended family. Their bodies......no one knew what had become of them. Whether it was that uncomfortable fact or something else that brought such sudden, often bloody remembrances she didn't know. She just wished...well, she wished a lot of things. Like she wished her Ari'ii wasn't quite so good at knowing when the night haunts found her.

"You're thoughts disturb you, Skaara Sha're," he said, moving to sit beside her.

"I saw my mother's body."

"I see," he replied as calmly as ever, but Skaara knew him well enough to know how much the statement actually hurt him to hear. Her mother was like a sister to him after almost ten years of friendship, as her father was an honorary Jaffa warrior and brother. She gave him a moment to collect himself, though none of it showed on his face as it hadn't on hers when she risked a look.

"It doesn't matter if I remember something good or bad. I feel...." rage, she wanted to say, but was afraid of the very word. Rage did not become a warrior, for it made them weak and open to easy death. This she had been taught even before her childhood fell apart.

"As I said before, child, what you feel is not unreasonable."

"But anger leads to death, Ari'ii."

"Indeed. Only if you do not control it, and allow it to control you. You are a strong Jaffa warrior, Skaara Sha're. You will learn. You know already of command, soon you shall know of control."

He was right, but about more than the rage. Soon she would be old enough to defy the one order he had ever given her. She would go offworld and fight the Goa'uld, fight the man who had taken her parents and those of many, many others.

" I trust your judgment, Ari'ii. I shall return to sleep soon."

He smiled down at her, pulling her into a quick side hug before standing. She was alone once again, watching the wisps of clouds passing over the pinpricks of light. Skaara raised her arm and let her fingers drift lazily over the star patterns, looking for just the right one. She saw it finally, the small cluster of stars. Earth was in that cluster, the planet her parents had raised her for five short years.

"Star's rest, my parents," she whispered, a benediction she'd learned from Bre'tac. She stood and wandered back into the warmth of her home, hoping it was enough to keep the nightmares away until morning.


	3. Gifts and Gravity

**Chapter 3: Gifts and Gravity**

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**

Skaara did in fact sleep soundly the rest of the night. When she woke at dawn, like always, she felt the distance between her memories and her conscious mind had grown enough for her to go out into the village for her day.

She trained for an hour outside her home, Ari'ii watching and correcting her as needed, then went down to the river to wash her hair of the sweat and dirt her daily training always brought. She liked the river for it's calming noise and the cool, leafy trees overhead. It had been her sanctuary for many years, ever since she struggled to learn Kel-no-Reem and found it much easier with the tumbling waters nearby.

Letting the cold waters wash over her hair and trickle down her neck made Skaara shiver a bit, but was still pleasant. She stood from the waters, wringing the excess water from her hair before grabbing the small towel she'd brought with her.

The sun was reaching it's zenith when she was coming down the hill towards her village. Skaara smiled, spotting her Ari'ii near the market. Her smile grew even wider when she realized who he was talking to: a slim raven haired woman and a man dressed in the clothing of an Abydosian. Uncle Daniel. And Aunt Vala.

"Kel Shak, Daniel?! Vala!" She called, breaking into a run as they turned towards her. She practically flew into Daniel's arms. He laughed and held her tight for a moment before letting her go, keeping a grip on her arms.

"Wow. Look at you!"

She quirked an eyebrow, taking in his weather beaten face, scars, and the way his poor glasses were slightly cracked around the edges, "I could say the same for you, Uncle. Tell me, what Satra Pit spit you out?," she replied. Daniel laughed again, shaking his head.

"Spoken like a Jaffa," he said, before his wife shoved him out of the way and took both Skaara's hands in hers.

"Missed you, darling," she kissed Skaara's cheeks," you're mother would love how strong you've become."

"I too have missed you, Vala," Skaara said with a small smile. She really had missed them both. For a long time she'd wondered if they were even alive. But other than the rough look to both of them, plus Vala's abnormally frazzled hair, they were real and alive before her. Skaara looked at her Ari'ii, who had not let more than a smirk cross his lips, but whose face was brighter than it had been in years.

"We were just telling Teal'c about the state of things out there," she jerked her thumb up to the sky.

"Again, Aunt Vala, Kel shek? How?"

"Innocuous cargo ship. Ba'al wants to be a different sort of Goa'uld warlord, so he's not blowing up without probable cause. Which reminds me, I got you presents!"

Skaara had to laugh again, joined by Daniel's hefty sigh.

"Vala, what did I say about stealing?"

"What?" Vala asked, looking up at him while she dug through the pack at her feet," They're Goa'uld, Daniel, what do they need gold and jewels for? Or silk?" She pulled a long silk robe from the drab woven pack and put it over Skaara's shoulder. It was a gorgeous deep blue color, dotted with golden thread and tiny bits of glimmering red stones. Skaara fingered the material, obligingly putting her arms through both sleeves and adjusting the attached green sash. Vala stood back a moment to see how it looked near her and clapped her hands.

"Perfect. Knew the color was spot on. And you say I have no sense, Daniel."

Daniel sighed. He was always sighing at his wife for one thing or another in the memories Skaara could recall without pain, memories from their life here.

"I don't doubt you're fashion sense, Vala, I doubt your common sense."

Vala pouted, so Skaara rushed to thank her. It was really nothing a Jaffa would enjoy, but there was still a part of Skaara that liked to imitate Taur'i girls. In the few years Vala and Daniel had been with them daily, the former had shown her the dazzling collection of gold, silver, and unidentifiable jewelry her own father had brought as gifts between his schemes, gifting them and subsequent treasures to her whenever they met. Taur'i women wore similar things, she'd told Skaara.

"Skaara Sha're, it is nearing time for your Kel No Reem. We will meet you for afternoon meal when we are done discussing news," Ari'ii said, breaking her train of thought. She bristled inwardly, knowing a dismissal when she saw one, but kept her face carefully molded into an expression of pleasant serenity.

"Very well. See you all later," she replied to both Daniel and Vala's suddenly grave faces.

Walking away, it took all she had not to angrily return and demand to hear news of the wider universe. Of all the things in her life that were barred by rules and rituals, the one that gave parents, or in her case godfather, the right to control their children's actions until seventeen chaffed the most. It would be three months until that day for her, but it did not stop her from resenting it. After a moment, however, she smiled. She had barely convinced her Ari'ii to allow her the tattoo of the free Jaffa, once used as the mark of Apophis.

She rubbed over the tattoo on her forehead, so much a part of her. A mark she'd never have had if the very man her family had most likely began discussing once she left not conquered the Taur'i.

* * *

Skaara lifted the pot of water onto the fire, listening as the hiss of steam from the pot's bottom filled her ears. Quickly, she added the herbs that would need to boil with the water in order to ensure it's purity.

Ari'ii, and her aunt and uncle should be there soon, having discussed what was necessary to the Resistance of the now universal SGC. The small tent home was calm, the afternoon wind gently fluttering the door flaps as it would it's was through the openings that served as windows. It was one of the nicer afternoons she'd experienced on the planet, the weather often being so erratic that Daniel had jokingly called the planet "California" and insisted that "with aliens'' was an entirely unnecessary addition.

She stood from the fire, stretching her legs. Grabbing a piece of cloth from the wire hanging over the hearth, she made her way outside to gather up some of the tomatoes whose seeds Daniel had brought and Ari'ii had tended into plants. They would taste good with the pheasant-like meat Ari'ii had procured the day before and smoked outside.

A shadow flicked overhead, in the form of a diving bird, as Skaara bent down over the tomato plants that grew along the front of their dwelling. It was not until the shockwave knocked her onto her back that she realized a bird was not the only thing that would make a crescent . Rolling onto her side, her breath caught in her throat as dust kicked up from the Glider made her choke.

Above, the silver Goa'uld ship pounded a few more shots into the center of the village. Ten years of hiding were over.

All Skaara could do was stare.

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kel shak / kel shek An interrogative greeting; no direct translation, but along the lines of "How are you here?" or "What are you doing


	4. Ashes to Ashes

**Chapter IV: Ashes to Ashes**

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**

Skaara pulled herself off the ground, eyes glued to the attack. Screams had erupted after the second shot was fired, people grabbing their most precious items—kept in one canvas bag per household in fear of this very day—and fleeing every which way. It looked haphazard, but Skaara had been shown for years where the hidden caverns were, spread all over the planet's single continent. Automatically she ran for the home, quickly finding the bag containing her and Ari'ii's precious possessions and stuffing the new silk robe Vala had just given her in as an afterthought.

Racing outside, she scanned the rapidly burning village for any sign of her family. But none of them caught her eye, so she ran to where she'd last seen them.

"Ari'ii! Vala! Daniel! Rya'c!" she cried, as terrified villagers bumped into her in their desire to flee. More blasts shook the ground and tore down homes as she unsteadily made her way across the village. They were nowhere to be seen by the time she emerged from the stampede.

She knew, in the back of her mind, what was expected of her if they were found by the Goa'uld. It had been drilled into her head since coming to Rhea. She had to run on her own, find a place to hide, and wait until the next evening before she ventured out to find Ari'ii. But now that it was here, her heart refused to do it. Everything had been taken from her on Earth, and something in her couldn't realize it was now happening on Rhea...

Another explosion shoved her to the ground, cheek and knees scraped and raw when she scrambled to her feet again.

Run. Don't think. Run.

Skaara took off, pushing every thought from her mind and letting instinct flood her veins. She burst through the tree line, scrambling until she found an animal track she could follow. Air was pulled in an expelled with equal force, throat turning raw as she just let herself go. In and out, one foot in front of the other, her satchel bouncing against her side. Time faded away as she pulled her mind from worry and grief. And then...

She stopped.

Falling to her already beaten knees, she ignored the jolt of pain, letting her body suck in great breaths of rapidly cooling air. The sounds of panic that had chased her into the forest were completely silent, leaving only her breathing. The burning in her lungs that had finally taken her down felt like it was pulsing through her head as well.

She finally rolled onto her side, exhausted, and simply stared up through the trees. Light was fading above her. She had run farther than she'd thought.

Once Skaara felt she'd regained enough energy, she pulled herself to her feet. She looked around, hoping she'd made it to one of the emergency shelters, and smiled. There, about five feet in front of her, was a opening in one of the gently sloping hills, small enough to be nearly invisible but large enough, she thought, for her body to fit through. Her satchel would have to remain behind.

Skaara dropped the canvas bag to the ground, pulling open the drawstring and reaching inside. Out came a headscarf Vala had given her for her eighth birthday, her half-brother Charlie's favorite baseball card, her dad's dog tags, and a small handful of photos bound with twine. Everything else, including Vala's recent gift—a part of Skaara shook at the thought she'd received the robe only two hours ago—was left in the satchel and buried as deep as she could dig with her bare hands. She then rolled up the photos and card in the scarf and stuck the whole thing in the wrap around her waist. Then she sucked in a breath and wormed her way through the tiny opening.

"Oof!" she cried, as her body quite suddenly ran out of earth to struggle through and dumped her onto a cold steel floor.

"Steel?" Skaara whispered, though there was no one around to hear her. None of the emergency shelters had anything better than straw for floors, most of them merely dirt. That meant she was most certainly not in the shelters.

A thin trickle of light was coming in behind her, but without matches she was otherwise in the dark. Only the occasional glint in the darkness gave her any clue where she was.

"If this is some sort of lab..," she murmured," then there should be lights rigged up...somewhere." Gently she probed the walls, finding hastily constructed steel walls to match the flooring. Her hand had moved only a few inches from where metal met earth when she caught her fingers in a tangle of wires. Flicking the switch, Skaara froze.

Artifacts of all different shapes and sizes littered barrels, tables, and unsteady looking shelves. Some were so large they sat on the floors and almost reached the earthen roof.

"The Museum," she whispered. The place General Hammond ordered everything they had evacuated to in the wake of the Goa'uld attack. She'd know of it, but only one SG team had known where it was. And only two bodies from the team had ever been found.

She spent a few minutes just walking around, eying the artifacts and happily discovering a stockpile of P-90s and ammo clips in a tunnel off the side, dug right into the hill itself. She grabbed one and loaded a clip into it without a second thought, suddenly remembering her staff weapon was in the village and feeling very naked without it.

Something crackled to her left and Skaara raised the P-90, spinning to face whatever slave-Jaffa had been stupid enough to chase her. But no one was there. Frowning, Skaara lowered her weapon, which had been pointed at a simple mirror. She hitched the weapon strap over her shoulder and went to investigate, running her hands along the rocky edge of the thing. It looked quite plain.

"Curious thing to drag all the way through a Chappa'i when you're planet is being subjugated and your base massacred...,"she said. It looked like quite a bit of weight, so she nudged it with her shoulder. It didn't even budge. How SG-7 had even gotten it here in the first place was almost as mysterious as why it was of any importance.

Something passed across the front of the mirror. Skaara's heart seemed to freeze up. Someone had found her. But when she spun around, once again no one was there. She looked back at the mirror. There was a man walking away from her, the room he was in reminding her of Cheyenne Mountain and definitely not any hidden room on Rhea.

Training told her to leave it alone, but human instinct whispered in the back of her mind to touch, to understand. So she did, reaching out slowly until her palm floated over the surface of the image. Then she laid it flat against the surface. And fell.


	5. Truly Sought

**Chapter V: Truly Sought**

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She _fell_.

As unusual as the mirror was, with the reflection-that-was-not-a-reflection, the falling bit surprised her, so she cried out as she hit the concrete on the other side.

"Ari'ii would be ashamed at such a high rate of falling as I've had today..." She didn't bother getting up again, choosing to peer around from a sitting position at the room she'd seen through the mirror. She looked behind her at the mirror, a look of horror on her face when the same noise she'd heard accompanied a streak of electricity and rendered the mirror a stone slate.

"That does not bode well."

A thunderous sound echoed behind her, and she spun herself around on her rear just in time for several heavily armed marines to come pouring in the room, one hitting an alarm that sent red light and piercing wails throughout the room and corridor.

"This bodes even worse."

* * *

Jack O'Neill had held high hopes for this particular Saturday. Granted, it was to be spent on base, but it was a chance to hit the lunch line, grab Carter her blue jello, and just relax in the company of his team. Of course, this was SG-1, they seemed to have no luck.

Apparently the universe agreed. Just as he dug into his red jello, and Daniel began speaking spacemonkey—he was quite amused with his new name for Daniel's historical babbling—several klaxons lit up and began screeching. He looked up at his three friends and sighed. Typical.

"Security to Research Storage 0053. Security to Research Storage 0053. Intruder."

"That's six floors under. And it's sealed," said Daniel, frowning.

"I believe General Hammond or another senior officer must also open any such unit personally due to the nature of items stored in rooms above 20," added Teal'c with a from.

Jack sighed," Ok, lets head up to the briefing room. Half the crap in 53 we brought back. Ten bucks says I'm going to get my ass chewed out."

He stood, taking one last swipe of his Jello—he noticed with a smirk that Carter was staring mournfully at her untouched blue Jello.

"For cryin' out loud, Carter, just give it back to the kitchens. They'll keep it for you," he said as the others moved to leave as well. Carter perked up and hastily handed the sundae cup back to the kitchen staff.

"It'll be worth it, sir, if you do get that chewing out," she said.

"Funny."

Daniel rattled off the things he knew to be in 0053 as they made their way up to the briefing room, frowning and shaking his head each time he discounted one of the items. Jack was about to tell him to shut up when they reached the proper floor to find General Hammond himself waiting for them by the elevator.

"Good timing SG-1. They already brought her up, security is checking the storage unit to make sure she was alone," he said, looking slightly as if he'd seen a ghost.

"You alright, sir?" Daniel asked, noticing it as well.

"You'll see in a moment, Doctor Jackson," their CO returned, turning away and starting towards the briefing room. Sg-1 followed, all on alert at the unusual state of the General.

They followed behind into the brighter lights of the large briefing room. Daniel suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, sending Jack crashing into his back.

"Dammit, Daniel! What was that for?"

"Oh my God...," whispered Carter beside him. Even Teal'c emitted and audible gasp. Jack looked around Daniel's shoulder, his jaw dropping at the young woman sitting at the far end of the table, two marines flanking her.

She had medium length, sort of brownish-blonde hair and faintly tanned skin, which looked like it was from exposure and not genetics, especially given the pair of eyes that widened almost imperceptibly underneath the tattooed mark of Apophis. They were bright and baby blue, and identical to those of his second in command.

"Not that I was ever there in the first place," she said in the manner he associated with Teal'c," but I am most certainly not in Kansas..."

"Bound to agree with ya there, Dorothy," Jack said in a small voice. The girl smiled, then looked quickly away. Her eyes seemed a bit watery when she looked back.

"Dad always called me that, if he didn't call me kiddo."

"Please sit down, SG-1. I have a feeling we all need to hear this young lady's story." Woodenly the four did just that, tanking seats closer to Hammond than the young woman. Jack stared at her, a niggling feeling in the back of his skull telling his he was not going to react well to what he was about to hear.

"You're from a parallel universe and Sam Carter is your mom." Jack whipped his head around. Daniel was staring wide eyed at their guest. Then it hit him what their resident geek was saying.

"The quantum mirror is in that room," he said. He turned back to their guest. No doubt about it, the wild hair and the eyes told the story pretty well on their own. He risked a glance at Carter. She sat, eyes never leaving the daughter she never birthed. He couldn't blame her.

"Yes I am. I...did not know the name of that mirror. Did you say, parallel?" their guest said.

"Yes, we've actually met another version of...your mom, before. I--"

"Daniel, ixnay on the talking? We don't know if she's free Jaffa or not," Jack warned. Friendly or not, human mother or not, they didn't know this girl. He shoved the part of his mind that asked who her Jaffa father was and kept his attention on the girl herself.

"I agree. We don't know if her universe is free of Apophis, or if the Free Jaffa even exist," Hammond interjected, leveling a stern gaze at her when Jack chanced a glance his way.

"Who are you?"

"I...I am Skaara Sha're."

Jack looked over at Daniel at the same time the archaeologist looked at him, both a bit stunned just at the name. The niggling feeling in his head came back with a vengeance. Nope, he was not going to like this little interview.

"As in Skaara of Abydos and Doctor Jackson's wife?"

"Yes, General. I was named for them in my...my universe."

"And you're mother is indeed a different version of Captain Carter?" Jack looked out of the corner of his eye at Carter as Hammond spoke. She looked a bit pale.

"Yes sir."

"So you're half human."

"Full."

Jack's niggling feeling set his 'oh shit' radar off. Full human. Oh no, he was not going to like the next answer to the question Hammond was certain to ask.

"Who..who is your father?" Carter asked before the General had a chance to ask it himself.

Skaara Sha're's eyes flicked over to his second in command, then at him.

"My father was Colonel O'Neill."

Jack slumped into his chair, suddenly unable to keep himself upright without the cushioned backing. His 'oh shit' radar had just short circuited.

"The universe clearly hates me," he mumbled.

* * *

Title from American McGee's _Alice:_ "What is sought is most often found, if it is _truly_ sought." -Cheshire Cat

Thought it was pretty appropriate given that this is J/S's kid from another universe. Also, it's a really, really fun game.


	6. Pictures and Conversations

**Chapter VI: Pictures and Conversations**

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**

Skaara couldn't stop staring at him once Colonel O'Neill—he was not, _not_ daddy!--fell back in his seat with a muttered oath she couldn't quite catch. She couldn't blame him, especially after she scanned the hands he left on the table for support and saw no ring. They weren't even married here, then. She quickly took at look at Captain Carter—not mom, not her mommy—and then Colonel O'Neill. Close ranks. He wasn't a General yet and she hadn't even hit Major. The regs....

No one spoke for a while, and Skaara began to feel her Jaffa control slipping. A room full of enemies she could take, but the images of her parents, her Grampa George, and the two people she'd just lost was almost unbearable. She'd not even heard from the General in years, didn't know if he lived or died.

"Please tell me I can get home. Ari'ii and my world's Daniel might be outnumbered by enemy Jaffa even now. I cannot sit here while they may still live. I must not fail when I posses the ability to fight for what remains of my family," she finally burst out, looking at each of them in turn," I could not fight for them as a child. I will not loose the chance now." She was near rambling now, the shame of it ignored with the very human constriction of fear in her heart.

"Take it easy, miss Skaara," General Hammond said," you'll do them even less good if you rush into the situation and get yourself killed."

"Sir, I was raised and trained Jaffa. I do not conduct myself that foolishly, I assure you. But I must find Ari'ii and Daniel. They are major targets for Ba'al, even more than myself."

"Ari'ii," the alternate Teal'c finally spoke. Skaara turned her attention to him, trying not to bolt from the chair and race their marines back to the mirror," you're..I believe humans call it 'godfather'. He is myself, is he not?"

Oh God, that voice. Would she ever hear it again?" Yes. You raised me after my parents died, on a planet called Rhea, for exactly ten years. Eleven, if you discount the three months that will make me seventeen this fall." She was supposed to get her ears pierced as a coming of age present. Vala was supposed to give her the first pair of earrings she herself had ever worn. Ari'ii was going to argue with her about joining the SGC before she finally pulled the puppy-dog face and he caved. Now she wasn't even sure she could survive the day with the ghosts of Cheyenne Mountain living and breathing before her.

" Your parents are dead?" O'Neill said hollowly.

"Yes."

"How?" This time Carter spoke. Skaara risked a look up at her and saw the compassion overtaking her shock. She smiled back at Skaara weakly," Unless you don't want to talk about it."

"No," Skaara replied," It is necessary for me to tell. Assuming this is not a Goa'uld trick." She felt stupid for not thinking of it earlier. They could all be Goa'uld.

"If you're mother went through the same experiences I have, you could feel it," Carter said," General Hammond?"

"Yes, Captain?"

"May I recommend Miss..Skaara be taken to the infirmary for a check up? It should put her at ease if her mother had a run in with a Goa'uld or Tok'ra as I have." Skaara looked down to hide her smile. No, not Goa'uld, then, but definitely as jeopardy friendly as her mother.

"Recommendation taken. Santos, Collins, please escort our friend here to Doctor Fraiser. Tell her the short version of what you just heard. I'd like to see what her tests come up with.

Miss, if you'll go with these gentlemen, they'll take you to another familiar face. Let her check you out. We'll try to see you home as soon as possible."

"Thank you, sir," Skaara said, rising to her feet. She offered the proper bow to all of them and then joined her new guard detail at the door before stepping out into the achingly familiar hall. She didn't look back.

* * *

Samantha Carter watched the girl—Skaara--as she sat with Jaffa patience for Janet Frasier to finish her check up. It was eerie to see the same calm in a teenager that she saw in Teal'c, and even stranger to see the curve of Jack's jaw on a face so reminiscent of her own.

The universe hated her. It had to. Let her go through the Stargate, but nearly take her friends away every time they went offworld. Hand her a man she respected and could love, but make him her CO. Give her the rich life her career afforded her, then dangle a child—hers and Jacks—in front of her face to remind her what she'd never have.

"She's healthy as a kid can get," Janet said after she'd excused herself from her patient," and Sam, she is genetically a match for both you and the Colonel. I'd say her story checks out."

"Anything else?"

"Yeah, I've checked some personal effects out. All clean."

"Can I see them?"

Janet gave her a look that clearly said she didn't believe the calm in her voice, but nodded. She led her into her office and gestured towards a side table she'd set up.

"Perfectly normal items," Janet said. Sam walked up to the table and picked up the shimmering scarf, which seemed to defy logic as the colors gently shifted into one another. It felt like nothing Sam had ever touched before. Someone clearly loved Skaara to give her something so lovely.

" There was indeed traces of Naquadah in her blood. So now we know it can be inherited from parent to child. I explained it to her, and she seems to believe me. She'd know a Goa'uld if she ever felt one."

Sam closed her eyes a second. From parent to child," is it harmful to her at all?"

"No. It seems to have the same effect it has in your body. Benign."

Sam set the scarf down and picked up a baseball card that was in near mint condition. She smiled, Babe Ruth. She flipped it over to look at the stats, a part of her heart jumping into her throat when she saw the sticker on the bottom reading "C. O'Neill". She quickly set it down. There wasn't anything else besides the photos she'd noticed as she'd walked in, but those gave her pause. Did she want to see the life she didn't live? The life of Jack and his wife and the little girl Sam had always wanted?

Sighing she picked up the bundle and gently removed the band around it.

"I'll go back and finish filling out her chart with her, just in case she has to stay with us a bit longer than a day," Janet said, excusing herself and disappearing from the room. Sam didn't bother replying, hoping her friend knew she appreciated some alone time with the world that wasn't hers.

The first photo made her smile. It was of a frantic looking Daniel chasing after a little girl in a purple party dress. She flipped it to the back of the stack, surprised to see General Hammond smiling up at the camera, the same child leaning sleepily against his chest. Skaara, obviously, wearing the same dress as in the first picture.

Sam flipped to a third and stared. Her own face looked up at her, beaming like the day she'd discovered the existence of the stargate. Next to her, Jack held one loose arm around her waist, his hand wrinkling the silk of her slinky white wedding dress. The expression on his face stole her breath away. He was relaxed and hopeful. She'd never seen his eyes look so wide and innocent in real life as they looked in the photo.

No doubt, if the DNA testing hadn't been proof enough. Skaara was her daughter. With her CO.

"Sam?"

Sam jumped, dropping the whole bundle. Janet came around the desk to help her pick them up," Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," she said as she picked up a photo featuring half the SGC and Skaara," but the General just called down. Now that we know shes healthy and who she says she is, he wants to get a full story out of her, just in case we have more visitors. Will you show her back up? The guards aren't necessary now."

The last thing Sam wanted to do was be alone with what she could never have here. God, where was Jack?

"Fine. Thanks Janet," she said, handing the doctor the stack of photos she'd gathered up again.

Sam walked out of the office and took a deep breath before approaching Skaara, who was thankfully facing the other way.

"General wants to hear more about your world, Skaara. I'll be showing you the way back up."

The girl turned around, nodding her head without looking Sam in the eyes. Sam felt a pang of sympathy for her. She could imagine the torture being here was causing the girl. How would it feel, Sam thought as Skaara stood and followed her out the door, to loose your parents only to have them alive—and not married to one another—in a different universe? She had to keep that in mind and not let the ache in her heart into her words.

It didn't stop her from feeling bitterly resentful at the universe for giving Jack and the family—or at least the promise of it—she'd always wanted to every Samantha Carter but her.

* * *

Some answers for you regarding Skaara. More next chapter. 'nother Lewis Carroll title.


	7. Vanish'd Summer Glory

**Chapter VII: Vanish'd Summer Glory**

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**

Skaara was glad when she and Sam were back in the briefing room, and even more relaxed when she realized it was only General Hammond that she had to face this time. She took the seat opposite him at his gesture. But something was very different about him this time. He looked worried, whereas her first encounter with him had been one of polite interest and concern. She clutched her scarf-wrapped items to her chest.

"I sense something has happened since I was last in this room, sir."

He nodded," Doctor Jackson has gone over his and Captain Carter's notes on that mirror you fell through. We think there is no reason you cannot simply return home. Before you do, I was hoping you could provide us with some information about the attack that killed your parents."

Of course. Information. Skaara should have expected the request. And rather than feel annoyed that her world was being entirely ignored otherwise, she felt embarrassment.

"I am afraid I cannot give much information, General. I was so little...." Too little. She could barely remember this place or Colorado Springs itself. Anything of real sue was beyond her, and it was getting increasingly frustrating the more she allowed herself to remember.

"Don't worry. I don't expect details, Miss O'Neill. If you can remember even the month and year, you've given us more than we had before."

She looked back up at him," Sounds like what he'd say."

Hammond gave her a kindly look, and for a moment she felt like she was home and the last eleven years were just a really bad nightmare. But she wasn't and they weren't.

"It was 2010. December, because we had a Christmas tree already." There were silver streamers wrapped around it. She'd made the angel out of wire, lace, and a paper towel tube.

"Well, thats something. What of the enemy?"

"Ba'al. A Goa'uld System Lord. I know nothing of him personally, but the stories say he is arrogant, confident, and self absorbed to the point of delusion. Unfortunately I have also heard from my Teal'c and former slave Jaffa of his that he is an excellent strategist and very determined."

"So we'll have a fight on our hands in the future if things line up. Thank you. I apologize if this discussion brings up too much for you."

"I think just looking at my parents walking around alive and well does the job, sir."

"They died in this attack on SGC?"

"Yes," she said softly.

"I'm sorry for that," he said sincerely. Skaara almost smiled at how she could still hear the note of sadness underneath it all.

"Now," he continued, suddenly businesslike," lets get you home. Would the attack have continued longer than the time you've been away?"

"I don't think so. The place I was in, The Museum, is unknown even to the villagers. We lost the SG-team in charge of evacuating the artifacts," she stood with him, and together they walked through the halls of the once-familiar SGC and down to the storage rooms.

"Thank you for not including SG-1 in this," she said properly as Hammond, along with two marines he'd picked up along the way, opened the storeroom she'd found herself in only hours earlier.

"Think nothing of it," he replied as the lights flickered on before them. The mirror sat before them, plain as the thick concrete walls and floor around it.

Skaara stepped up to it," I get back the same way, is that correct?"

"Yes."

Turning her head, she regarded Hammond and the two wary marines with a polite nod," Thank you, sir. If I find my family, I will try and send further help back."

"We would appreciate it."

She turned back, and gently reached out to touch the mirror, which had returned to it's silvery sheen. The same sound and light surrounded her and then..

Skaara screamed, suddenly in The Museum, as the weight of tons of earth pressed down on her. It was pitch black, but she understood in a second what had happened: The Museum had been hit and collapsed.

Dirt began to clog her mouth and nose as she struggled to reach the mirror again. She had to get back, had to get back!

The noise and light flashed again, and Skaara began coughing the second she hit the floor. A figure crouched in front of her bleary eyes, hands patting her back in an attempt to aid her in coughing out the earth that tinged her tongue with a thick, bland taste.

"What happened?!" he asked, voice alarmed for the first time in her memory (of either Hammond she knew).

"Collapsed....," she let out," the hidden places...must have been hit by the Gliders."

"Come on, lets get you to Frasier. She's going to have my head for this, somehow." She nodded, and slowly rose to her feet with Hammond's help. He brought her to the two marines, who gently took over and guided her back to the infirmary. Skaara couldn't bring herself to worry over the weakness the brief nightmare had done to her body, or the thought that she had just about died of suffocation. The only thing she could think of was how she probably would never see Ari'ii, Daniel, or Vala ever again.

Sam sat with Janet in her office, enjoying the sudden quiet that had resumed it's control over the entire SGC. It had been too long, in Sam's opinion, since she and her best female friend had just sat together and chatted.

"Wonder who will find the mirror next time," Janet said," maybe a me. That way, someone will finally understand how hard it is to deal with SG-1."

Sam had to laugh at the mental image even as she defended herself," I'm a good patient! So are Teal'c and Daniel! It's Colonel O'Neill that gives you grief."

"True, but having you three hovering all the time.." Janet began playfully," it's a wonder I can get anything done when one of you is lying there." She gestured to the bed they could see from the office.

"I suppose," Sam replied, mood somewhat dampened. Unbidden, the thought that Skaara had been sitting on that bed just an hour before appeared. She quashed it immediately.

"I don't mind, really," Janet continued, aware of the short shift in mood," it shows how good a team you've become. Extraordinary considering it's only been a few years since Teal'c was the enemy, Daniel was stuck in the academic world which derided him, you were in a normal air force post, and Jack was quickly becoming a hermit."

"Hmm..," Sam replied, a small smile gracing her lips at the thought. It had been a different world indeed when she first challenged a superior officer to an arm wrestle and jumped through a stargate.

" Doctor Frasier!" Both women stood hurridly at the sound of General Hammond's shout. Sam frowned at her friend, who looked as puzzled as she was. No one was set to leave for a mission until the next morning and they had only two teams out on planets they knew to be peaceful, so there should be no one to treat.

Janet moved around the corner, and Sam followed, only to come face to face with a dirty, exhausted looking Skaara.

"What happened?" Janet questioned as she directed the two marines supporting Skaara to lay her out on a bed.

"The other side has been buried in soil. Most likely the Goa'uld blasted up as much of the land around the village as they could to prevent escape of any kind. We can only hope others didn't get caught in it," replied Hammond crisply.

Sam watched Janet hurriedly help Skaara down some water and swish another cup around her mouth to remove any remaining dirt. The girl complied without question. She looked utterly forlorn, and it took every conscious thought Sam had to prevent whatever maternal instincts she possessed from rushing to her aid.

"See to Miss Skaara, Doctor. I'll get her some quarters set up." Then Hammond was gone, and Sam was left watching Janet do her job around the silent, battered looking young woman who'd finally lost everything she had left in her life.

Sam told herself it was just empathy for her that drew her towards Skaara and directed her to pull her into a loose embrace. To her surprise, the young woman immediately turned into her shoulder and began to cry.

* * *

Yeah..Skaara is not getting a break for a while.

Title from one of the poems in _Alice in Wonderland_


	8. A Moment to Be Lost

**Chapter VIII: A Moment to be Lost**

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SG sat together in the commissary, for once all together and still acting as if one of them had been injured on a mission. Sam barely touched her Jello, Jack noticed. It was almost as disturbing as why they were all so concerned.

Sam had come to them as they'd reconvened outside the commissary. Skaara's return due to a buried Quantum Mirror tugged at Jack. What a life this kid had, he thought. Orphaned at five, stuck on some backwater planet for eleven years, watching her home be destroyed at sixteen , and finally trapped in a parallel universe with parents who weren't really her parents. He could imagine the pain. What if Charlie had come through that mirror?

"What will become of Skaara Sha're?" Teal'c said finally.

"No clue, buddy," Jack returned," why, got any ideas?"

"Perhaps if we cannot find a way to clear the Quantum Mirror, she could go to live among the Free Jaffa." Jack sat back, thinking. She'd mentioned being raised and trained Jaffa, but for some reason the thought of sending her away bothered him. Another sudden move, and into a world where the Jaffa could still be hit. No, that didn't sound like a situation he'd want if he were her universe' Jack O'Neill.

"I don't know, Teal'c," Daniel said," think she's been tossed around a bit too much already."

Good ole' Danny boy.

"Indeed she has," added Teal'c. Jack turned his attention to Sam. She hadn't chimed in at all, and it worried him just a bit. Normally her compassion would already been in full gear, even when the rest of them were bowled over by a given situation. But then again, what situation had ever presented them with a child? He wondered, suddenly, if she was thinking of Doctor Carter and Colonel O'Neill in that world Daniel fell into. Fiancées. God knew he'd thought about it too much in the days following Apophis's failed attempt at Earth. Every time he and Sam worked well together or enjoyed a laid back off day with the guys, he'd seen where love could have grown in the two dead heroes. He shifted uncomfortably.

"Hey Carter, you alright there?"

She flinched a bit and looked up at the three of them. Jack smirked. She'd just tuned them out while she ate.

"Sorry, what?"

"Skaara. What do we do if she can never go back?"

Sam considered the question for a moment, he could tell. But the her expression clouded and she shook her head.

"Find her a family, let her go to school, integrate. Like with Cassandra."

"Uh..Carter. Tattoo?"

"I am sure General Hammond will find a solution to the problem should Skaara Sha're become a permanent resident of this world," Teal'c said, stopping Carter's response from leaving her mouth," it does us little good to contemplate options at this time."

"Eh..you're right Teal'c. General will make the call in the end."

"In the meantime," Daniel jerked a nod over Jack's head towards the doorway. He turned to find a solemn looking Skaara holding a tray of food and looking around with nervous eyes.

Without thinking, because the girl actually looked like a lost kid instead of a Jaffa-in-training for once, Jack whistled sharply, causing a few heads to turn aside from Skaara's.

"Sir?" He ignored Sam's confused address and gestured the young woman over. Teal'c scooted over, and she hesitantly took a seat between him and Daniel.

"Wondered when we'd see you come eat. Kid your age needs to woof down everything she can get." Skaara looked at him, puzzled.

"Woof down? I am afraid I never learned Earth idioms." Oh brother, this one was definitely raised by Teal'c. He sighed.

"It means to eat with a big appetite. You're still growing."

"Oh, I see. It is merely...difficult for me to desire food right now," she said, taking a small bite of—he almost laughed out loud—blue Jello as if to show him she indeed ate.

"Fair enough," he responded. Skaara returned to her food.

"So Skaara, can I ask you something?" Daniel said. Skaara turned a polite face to him and nodded.

"Do I look old in the future..alternate timeline..thing?"

The table went quiet for a moment. Then Skaara bit her lip and ducked her head, keeping in a laugh as Jack and Sam laughed uproariously. Leave it to Daniel to give the ultimate ice breaker in a very awkward situation.

Teal'c smirked," Is that truly the extent of your concerns, Daniel Jackson?"

"No!" Daniel protested," I just was trying to cheer Skaara up a bit..."

Skaara's shoulders shook with silent laughter until she met Jack's eyes. Then she let out a long, goofy laugh he'd never have expected out of anyone Jaffa trained. It was good to hear, actually. From her seriousness earlier, he'd wondered if she even knew how.

"I appreciate it, Doctor. And yes, you have very nice, long hair," she said, smiling.

"Seriously, though, Dorothy, you hangin' in there?"

"I...can adapt. Do not worry about me, sir,'' she replied," I am used to the world around me being off center."

Damn, she really was his kid in another world. Her answer, for all it's Tealc'ness, was exactly what he'd say in this sort of whacked out situation. There must be something to be said for character traits and genetics if she'd developed that method of dodging questions on her own.

"You're doing better than Daniel here," Sam finally said. Daniel glared at her over the tops of his glasses, but she only smiled sweetly at him.

"You mean when he met another version of my parents?"

"Yeah," Daniel sighed," you're Daniel never went? It's why we knew Apophis was coming."

"I cannot tell you. I have had precious little time to ask for stories. Uncle Daniel left for space with Vala when I was little. I only saw them occasionally, and the stories tended to be more from your down time than your missions. I think it hurt him to talk about my parents too much. Same for my Ari'ii."

Daniel looked back down at his food.

"Hammond around?" Jack asked, taking a chance again. That, and he was getting kind of worried for this other universe's chance at survival.

"Not since I was seven. He realized after a raid on a nearby system that he was too recognizable to remain with the refugees," Skaara looked away.

"Close, huh?"

"You could say that," she replied, a small smile coming back to her face," I used to call him gramps. Think he took it as a rib at his age once I was old enough to understand how old 60 was."

Jack laughed. Oh, where was Hammond for that one? He took a swig of Pepsi to conceal his amusement. As much as it felt weird that another him had a daughter who called General Hammond gramps, it was worth it if she wasn't brooding over something she couldn't fix.

Jack turned back to his food, and the five settled into an easy silence as they all dug in. The whole time, Jack kept telling himself that he just didn't like to see women upset. It had absolutely nothing to do with the part of him that had been lying dormant since Charlie died.

Nothing at all.

* * *

Title from _Alice in Wonderland_ chapter 1: Down the Rabbit Hole


	9. Worry

**Chapter IX: Through the Looking Glass**

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Skaara flipped a page in one of the books she'd found in the quarters within Cheyenne Mountain. Daniel's doing, if the fact that the five books were either on history, or myth, was anything to go by. The one she was reading at the moment was on the legend of Atlantis and it's possible real life locations. It was amusing, to say the least, given that Atlantis was around in her world and time. But it was comfortable enough a way to pass the time as she waited days and days for Sam and the other "eggheads" , as Colonel O'Neill called them, to figure out a method to get her safely to the surface of Rhea.

It had been a week and a half, and still every time she visited Sam in the lab, the woman simply shook her head and went back to her notes. Skaara had never seen that face so dejected, and it worried her.

She shut the book. There was just no concentrating given the situation. She glanced over at the clock and got up. Maybe she could find Teal'c or Daniel in the commissary and grab something to eat. This constant waiting was beginning to drive her crazy.

She nodded to the young lieutenant, Ryan, who stood outside her door, and took the elevator one floor up, praying all the while for someone from SG-1 to be eating. She was getting rather tired of the stares. Although, Skaara smirked, single handedly causing the rumor mill to implode was rather fun. Apparently this universe was as hell bent as the other two she knew of on getting Samantha Carter and Jack O'Neill together. Really, she mused as she turned the last corner to the commissary, how many universes did they need to meet in order to realize the universe was trying to tell them something?

Good, Teal'c was there. She'd found very quickly that sparring with Teal'c was good for grounding her in something familiar. Like her Ari'ii, Teal'c had quickly accepted her presence and begun offering her the chance to keep her skills intact. He genuinely seemed not to care that she was the ward of a completely different man, or that she'd caused some extra tension between his CO and adopted sister. If anything, the whole situation amused the stoic warrior.

She grabbed a tray, a tuna sandwich, and a bottle of Perrier, and sat down across from him, nodding the proper hello as she did so.

"Skaara Sha're, it is good to see you have not let the situation harm you."

"I am affected, I just learned long ago how to bear it as befitting a Jaffa," she smiled," any news from Captain Carter?"

"She has yet to find a solution. It appears there is not just soil blocks your way. I believe she fears that some of the objects hidden from Ba'al may render any digging impossible." Skaara closed her eyes a moment. That's what she'd assumed. Who knew what could be buried on the other end? She remembered several explosive rounds, for instance, sitting not far from the p-90s. If they tried to dig, they could cause an explosion and render the mirror useless anyway.

"I thought so."

Something in her voice gave away the fear she'd kept at bay until that moment, because she felt Teal'c lay a comforting hand on hers. She smiled. He could read her as easily as the counterpart she'd never see again.

"There are worse fates, Skaara Sha're, than to live well in the name of those you love."

"I am an O'Neill, Teal'c. I cannot leave anyone behind," with that she resolutely dug into her sandwich, trusting the male Jaffa to let her be.

* * *

There was nothing left.

Daniel Jackson tried to tell himself that the eyes could deceive, that just because the tent house was a mess didn't mean his niece had been inside when it had burned to ash. She was Jaffa as well as human, he reminded himself. No doubt she could have escaped.

It didn't stop him from feeling like he'd lost Sam and Jack all over again.

He looked away, back towards the remains of the market and the town. They'd lost twenty people—_nineteen_ his brain demanded—mostly the elderly who couldn't get away from the blasts fast enough.

"She got away, Daniel," his wife said in a whisper as she hugged him from the back. He gripped the hands that met over his stomach, but remained silent.

"Then why hasn't she come back like everyone else?" he said after the silence had begun to stretch too long. Nearly every remaining survivor whose body was not counted had returned. Yet he hadn't seen Skaara's blond head among them.

"Daniel Jackson," the archaeologist broke free from his wife's embrace and turned to meet Teal'c's eyes," I do not find a corpse. Skaara Sha're did not die when the attack occurred. That much we may be thankful for."

Daniel took a breath.

"Perhaps she injured herself somewhere in the forest? She could be fine but unable to return."

She was right, of course. Skaara knew as well as any of them what was expected of her should the Goa'uld attack. But it still left them with the inability to know which direction she ran. And then there was the thought of Skaara injured and unable to--

"DANIEL JACKSON!!"

He turned a sheepish eye towards his wife.

"Stop worrying. We'll find her and she'll be fine. She's an O'Neill," she gently laid an arm around his shoulders," we'll start looking now, ok?"

Daniel look at her, hair flying in every direction and soot mushed all over her face. He'd nearly lost her today. And she was there and right as usual when it came to these things. He knew from her eyes that she was as worried for Skaara as he was, but she was staying calmer than he was.

"Ok," he sighed," you're right. Any ideas?"

Teal'c scanned the remains of his dwelling, then looked down into the market. Daniel followed his eyes.

"She would have tried to find us. That means the market," he said. Teal'c nodded.

"Well what are we waiting for?" Vala added, rolling her eyes," lets go find our girl so I can chew her out. I'm getting to be an old lady, and you don't scare old ladies!"

Teal'c looked at Daniel with a quirked eyebrow, and for once since the attack a smile crossed his face.

"Not even touching that one. Lets go find Skaara. She'll be crankier than Jack after a shot if we leave her waiting all day."

"Indeed."


	10. Four Inches Deep

**Chapter X: Four Inches Deep**

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Jack entered the lab and just stopped, watching Carter's body language as she sat before her desk, piles of notes and files. Her shoulders had that hunch to them, and the set of her jaw was stiff. She'd also been at it for two weeks. He sighed. Not good news for Skaara, then.

"Sir, either say something or stop hovering."

"Nice to see you too, Captain." She sighed and laid back into her seat, facing him.

"I'm sorry, sir, its just..frustrating....considering the items we've listed as top priority in case of attack, not to mention the explosive ammunition Skaara had told me about..."

"She isn't getting home, at least that way, is she?"

"No. And there _is_ no other way. Not that I know of."

The words he didn't want to here. When Samantha Carter said there is no way to do something, there generally wasn't. The conversation with Skaara was not going to be pretty. He winced internally. Kid had inherited the O'Neill bad luck, with an extra kick.

"Who's gunna tell her?"

Sam gave him a look.

"Oh."

More silence.

"Why me?"

Sam sighed. The tenseness in her shoulders faded, and she sat forward in her chair, eyes on whatever it was she'd been reading.

"I...,"

Jack stepped up to her and laid a hand on her shoulder," I'm sorry, I never asked. How you feelin on all this?"

She didn't answer at first, instead putting her hand over his and giving it a squeeze. He tried not to think too much on it, but the warmth of her hand reminded him of some very impure thoughts he'd had when she'd so boldly challenged him to arm wrestle the day they met. And then there'd been Daniel's alternate universe where he was engaged to her (he tried not to think too hard on that, either, but because of how it ended for them there). And the time she'd worn that blue gown on the Mongol planet. And a lot of other times besides.

"I never asked for marriage and children. Career was enough. Then I look at Skaara and....it's one thing to think of family as a concept. It's another matter entirely when it's shoved at you in the flesh."

"Yeah," he said, reluctantly sliding his hand out from under hers," shes got enough of my face...if she cut her hair she could be Charlie."

"Really?" Sam asked, for once in the conversation looking something other than morose. Jack had to smile. He wished his son could have met his second in command. Charlie would have loved all her technobabble. He would have adored Skaara too, for that matter.

"Yeah."

"Guess I should have realized....this can't be easy for you either."

"Or Skaara. All I have to do is think of falling into a universe with Charlie alive and I know how she's feeling. Cept, ya know, the whole Jaffa thing makes it hard to read her." Sam laughed.

"Yeah.."

"C'mon, lets go tell her together," he said, offering her a hand up. She smiled at him and took it, letting her hand, he thought, stay just a bit longer than necessary in his.

"Good idea, sir."

* * *

There was a knock on the door. Skaara looked up from her Atlantis book, trying to ignore the flash of hope that filled her. Two weeks and no signs of success, she reminded herself.

"Come in!"

The door opened, and to Skaara's surprise both O'Neill and Sam entered. Neither looked particularly sad, but the controlled expressions scared her almost as much. She schooled her face into the passive Jaffa way, and nodded to them in greeting.

"Colonel, Captain," she said.

"Hey, Dorothy. Reading anything interesting?"

"Just some books Daniel left. History, Myth.."

"So in other words, nada," he drawled back. Sam threw him an exasperated expression.

"Can we sit?" Sam said with a gentle smile. Skaara nodded hesitantly. Something deep in her memories of her parents told her something was wrong. It felt like she was about to receive news of a death the way they sat down on each side of her, as if bracing her.

"Carter here has been running through tests and notes and all her doodads..and uh...," O'Neill looked across her at Sam, who rolled her eyes at him, then fixed Skaara with a weary gaze.

But Skaara beat her to it," I am trapped in this world, are I not?" Both of the officers closed their eyes sadly.

"I'm sorry. I tried everything I could think of. But the transfer is instantaneous. We simply can't send anything through because it will be crushed, as you nearly were," Sam said softly. She was looking at Skaara directly, but Skaara refused to meet her eyes. Instead she focused on a small crack in the concrete floor.

She wasn't going home. Ever. Her Ari'ii would think she'd been crushed with the hidden room. Daniel and Vala....dear God she'd never see Grandpa George again, if he was even still alive. What would the man who'd loved SG-1 as his own family think of missing the last eleven years, only for her to "die" now? And her parents...their family picture above the fireplace in Minnesota, her mini fishing pole (for the lake that had no fish). Her stomach turned, a sick, nauseas feeling growing and moving up into her throat. Rya'c, her friends in the village. It was all gone for good, because Samantha O'Neill was brilliant no matter what universe you were in. If she didn't want to risk a plan, chances were that was that.

"Skaara?" O'Neill said. She didn't respond until a soft hand held her chin and pulled her gaze up to meet his. But it wasn't a stranger in a familiar form, it was a father who looked at her with total empathy. He knew what it was like to have your world torn away from you.

"Hey, it's ok for Jaffa warriors to get upset, ya know?" He smiled softly at her, pulling memories of skinned knees and falls from the parts of Skaara's memory that were cloaked in the trauma of her fifth year. She felt her composure slipping, ever means she'd ever learned of absorbing the outside world being flung back in favor of a more persistent feeling. Skaara O'Neill wanted her daddy.

Without another thought, she threw herself into O'Neill's waiting arms, and began to sob.

* * *

Title referencing chapter two of Alice in Wonderland: 'The Pool of Tears'. Four inches is the height Alice guesses her puddle of tears are when she is shrunk.


	11. Hush A By Lady

**Chapter XI: Hush-a by Lady**

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**

They sat together, Skaara leaning fully into the Colonel's chest while Sam wrapped one arm around her, leaning on the girl's back as she sobbed quietly. Her heart broke in a way she at first tried to pass of as empathy for a lost child, like with Cassandra. A rueful smile stole over her face. Empathy, right. Hearts didn't break like hers was for Skaara out of general humanity. They broke in mothers unable to console their children.

A part of Sam had acknowledged, from the moment Skaara had revealed her parentage, that she wanted to be around for her. Wanted a family. Wanted Jack O'Neill in a way that was entirely inappropriate for a subordinate officer. If she were to be honest, something had sparked in the moment he grinned at her sarcastic offer to arm wrestle.

She gently rubbed Skaara's back, memories of her childhood telling her that it would calm Skaara's tears. After a few more loud, messy sobs, it seemed to work, and Skaara hid her face in Jack's shoulder.

Sam stole a look up, meeting her CO's eyes. There was pain there, but the love she saw flash across his gaze was startling. She gave him a defeated smile, which he returned.

So much for the strength of air force officers. They were supposed to know how to keep themselves distanced yet understanding, sincere yet not invested emotionally. In five minutes, one girl had torn all that down and dragged forth every flirt, every ounce of attraction out into the open. Then again, what training could ever have prepared them for the Stargate or the Quantum Mirror?

"'M sorry," a little voice muttered into Jack's shoulder.

"Hey now," he replied, pulling away enough so that Skaara was looking at him," nothin to be sorry about."

"He's right," Sam added, pulling the girl a little closer," you've survived...Skaara just look at what you've survived. The fall of Earth, the deaths of your parents, ten years in exile from home, living a life you know could end in heartbeat, and not even knowing where half your loved ones are," she gently brushed some of Skaara's dusty blond hair from her face," that's a lot to go through and not cry. My dad used to tell me that even Achilles cried more than once in his lifetime. You've earned some tears."

Skaara turned to look up at her, eyes red rimmed and so very blue. A trembling smile crossed her face, and she brought her free arm over to hug Sam. Sam accepted, gently petting her hair. It felt so right to be comforting her that she didn't think twice when Jack leaned in and brought them both into the circle of his arms.

* * *

Title from chapter Nine of Through the Looking Glass titled 'Queen Alice' Sorry for the shortness. Will upload the next chapter in a few.


	12. Simple Joys

**Chapter VII: Simple Joys**

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Daniel walked towards Skaara's room, somewhat apprehensive that General Hammond wanted to see her, no doubt to discuss her future in their world. While he knew the General was a good man, he could not help worry that higher powers could force his hand in a direction even he disliked.

The door was slightly ajar, but Daniel found himself rooted to the floor just before the threshold when he looked towards the bed. Skaara, looking like she'd been crying, was being held by Sam. But what was surprising was that Jack was holding them both. For the first time Daniel saw a family in the three, where before he'd seen the same two people he'd always known and a child of a completely different set of people.

He smiled. So there _was_ something there, though both his friends would deny it under torture. Watching what appeared to be a close knit family, he could only wonder if some higher power was finally sick of throwing intimate situations and alternate universes at them and just said "here, have a kid and get together already!". That the mental voice of God sounded like his Aunt Myrtle was slightly terrifying though....

Reluctantly, he let the amusing thoughts go. The news the General would give Skaara may tear the scene before him to nothing.

"Um..Skaara?"

As expected, the trio jumped apart, Jack and Sam hastily disentangling their arms from one another so the young Jaffa could stand up. Her face was red, but her expression gave no indication otherwise to the tears Daniel was sure he'd seen still on her cheeks.

"General Hammond wants to see you."

There was no mistaking the suddenly anxious looks in Sam and Jack's eyes. Skaara was more controlled, bowing her head in compliance.

"I will go see him now, then. Colonel, Captain, thank you. It has been a long time since I allowed myself to let go," she smiled," I have been tightly wound for too long."

"Ya sure you betcha, Dorothy," Jack said with a wink. Skaara, for the first time since they'd met her, beamed before nodding farewell to Sam and passing by Daniel in silence. Once she was out of sight, he shared an apprehensive look with his friends. He hoped whatever progress she'd made with them wasn't about to be undone.

* * *

Skaara gently pressed a hand to the door of General Hammond's office, bowing her head when she noticed he was sitting there already, face impassive.

"General, you wished to see me?"

"Yes, please sit," he said. She eased herself into a seat.

"As Captain Carter has no doubt informed you, there is no safe way to return you through the mirror. I'm sorry for that, I really am. But that leaves us with the matter of what kind of a life you can have here. You've already mentioned being on base without issue, so I assume some sort of arrangement was made for your presence here, even as a toddler."

"Yes, sir. I had no relatives in the area, and there was the matter of my grandfather being a Tok'ra. I knew of Selmak."

"That couldn't be allowed to be spilled to another child."

She nodded. She hadn't really had friends her age, only Cassandra Frasier who was almost grown when she was born.

"Once I was old enough to understand what must be secret it would not have been a problem."

"I see. And you are fully trained as a Jaffa?"

She frowned. What was he getting at with these questions? She'd assumed he had made his decision, and that that was why Daniel had come to get here. Curious, she thought.

"Indeed I am. Upon turning seventeen I was to leave with my Daniel or Vala to help fight Ba'al."

The General looked at her appraisingly, and it suddenly hit her that he had sent Daniel so he could ask her these questions before making his decision. A nervousness she'd never experienced before twisted knots in her stomach. Had she said the right things?

"I can't imagine your father---_any_ version of him—to be happy with such a decision. But life handed you what it did, and I can only conclude that you can take some knocks. Only question is, can you work with SG-1 without your familial ties getting confused?"

"SG-1, sir?"

"Yes, miss. So can you?"

Skaara pushed back the giddy feeling that'd formed in her stomach at the offer. Could she work with these people without seeing her family? Sure, Daniel and Teal'c were easy to distinguish from her family. Teal'c treated her like just another Jaffa, and Daniel's much shorter hair in this world made it easy for her to think of him as Daniel and not Uncle Danny.

But O'Neill and Sam bore the same faces, haircuts, and attitudes as the ones she lost. After all, it would only be a few years more in her world when her parents got married, and then only a few months until her birth. And just then, in her room, when they'd comforted her, had felt right. Could she do a job in a whole new universe with doubles of her parents and not treat them as her parents?

"It is not a choice, and I can. There is no life for me outside the SGC. Assuming my age is not an issue, I can be of use to the program."

Hammond leaned back in his chair,"It is, but I've spoken to Teal'c and he assures me anyone trained as a Jaffa is capable by sixteen. He says you're quite good at hand to hand and staff fighting."

Skaara nodded. Hammond stood and held out a hand, which she took to shake.

"Then welcome to the SGC, Lieutenant," he said.

"Thank you, General."

* * *

continuing the Lewis Carroll inspired titles. Skaara has found something good in the new world. I just couldn't imagine her being a civilian after being Jaffa trained. At least with the SGC she'd have a purpose.


	13. Through The Looking Glass

**Chapter XIII: Through the Looking Glass**

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It had been many years since Jack O'Neill had watched his son get excited, but he'd never really forgotten the special way a child could get wound up over something they loved. The girl walking down the hall towards the briefing room at his side was definitely wound up. Skaara was trying (and failing) to cover up the very same excitement Charlie had used to run circles around him when he'd been told he was going to the World Series so long ago. Her Jaffa training under her Teal'c was good, Jack had to admit. At least she wasn't bouncing, although her steps _were_ a bit more energetic than he'd noticed before.

He had to smile. The decision by Hammond to allow her to stay may have been a foregone conclusion given her Jaffa tattoo and her uncanny resemblance to his second in command, but placing her on SG-1, he knew, was Hammond's way of giving back a part of her life she'd lost as a child. He looked over at her discreetly, eyes drawn to the SG-1 patch on her shoulder. He'd never really pegged Hammond for being such a softie. His other self, the one Skaara called grandpa, had probably been wrapped around her finger the moment she was born if she could, just by virtue of her strengths and the painful lack of normalcy in her life, convince a man she'd technically never met to help her like that.

"Colonel, Lieutenant," Hammond greeted as the pair took their seats in the briefing room with the others.

"General. What have we got?" Jack asked.

"PX3-965. SG-3 just came back from recon. Hoping Doctor Jackson will be able to make sense of the writing they found," The General nodded to the folders in front of their resident archaeologist. Daniel flipped it open and scanned the contents, muttering to himself a bit as he went. Jack rolled his eyes after a minute of excited murmurs from his friend.

"Daniel, would you share with the rest of the class?" Jack started, looking to Skaara as she spoke for him. Daniel looked up at them rather sheepishly.

"Aww, steal my lines why dontcha!" Jack grumbled, even as he smirked at Daniel's caught-in-the-cookie-jar expression. It was a rare treat to have someone else mess with Daniel's head.

"Um..its written in the same language as the epic of Gilgamesh."

"King of Uruk," Skaara said. Daniel's face lit up.

"Exactly!"

Jack sighed," Whose Gillagan and what's an Urk?"

As expected, Daniel shot him a withering—or as close to withering as Mr. puppy-dog eyes got to withering—glare, and refused to correct him.

"He was a Sumerian King who killed the Bull of Heaven," Daniel explained," this writing looks to have come from the same period in which the epic was written."

"Can you read it?" Carter asked, taking one of the photos into her hands and looking it over with polite interest.

"I'll need some time, and access to the ruins, but yes. Some of these things look like they pertain to the gate itself, see the dialing code embedded in the script?" she nodded," well that could be codes to planets we've never heard of before. It could lead to some important finds for the SGC."

"That's why I'm sending SG-1 to the planet. You'll be given 24 hours to study the ruins, see if you can find any dialing codes to potentially friendly races."

"When do we head out, sir?"

"Immediately. Gear up and go."

Jack grinned," yessir."

* * *

Skaara needlessly adjusted her hat as she and Sam waited for the guys to enter the gate room. She would never admit it out loud, but she was quite nervous. Seeing the gate again brought up long buried anxieties.

"This can't be a calming experience for you, can it..," Sam said softly to her right. Skaara looked over at her, outward expression—hopefully—calm.

"Indeed. The first and only time I have used the cha—the Stargate, was the day I lost my parents."

"I'm sorry. Must have been scary for a child."

Skaara had to smile at the empathy in her voice," It is all right, Captain. I had..I had General Hammond with me. Things are far less frightening when you're being held by someone familiar."

Sam shot a glance up at the window behind them.

"How'd you get him to leave his command?"

"Vala did. She pretended she had something important to get and shoved me in his arms. He had no choice."

The Captain ducked her head as she giggled," I think I'd like this Vala."

"Ready to go, campers?" Came the Colonel's call. Both women brought their smiles under control and nodded," yes, sir."

Jack looked suspiciously at the both of them, but ignored the tiny giggle that escaped his second in command," Good. Ready to head out, General!"

"You have a go SG-1."

Skaara knew what was coming, but the metallic sound of the chevrons still set her heart racing. Once the last one locked, the explosive initialization of the wormhole pushed outward, then settled into the eerie blue glow. Memory tugged at Skaara, and for a moment she had to close her eyes to control it.

_The pressure on her small body was enormous, but she has no breath to cry out with. She merely grasped grandpa George's uniform jacket even tighter. When they landed on the other side, she began to wail in terror._

"Skaara?"

She opened her eyes to meet Jack's brown ones. He looked concerned. She summoned up a reassuring smile," Forgive me, I was lost in thought. I never expected to experience gate travel on Rhea."

He didn't buy it, she could tell, but she was thankful he didn't push.

"Okay, c'mon," he said, gently guiding her up the ramp, where Teal'c, Sam, and Daniel were waiting. She allowed him that visual reassurance, but kept her face neutral as they approached the gate.

She expected them to walk through together, but a shove sent her forward unexpectedly. The last thing she heard before her body was transferred across the stars was Sam breaking rank and shouting "JACK!" reproachfully.

* * *

Theres a new chapter! And if anyone wants to see Skaara's escape with Hammond, read 'A Duty Greater Than Honor'


	14. Paths That End in Trouble

Chapter XIV: Paths that end in Trouble

Teal'c and Vala took the lead as they and Daniel left the ruined village. Each of them scanned the forest for any sign of Skaara's emergency pack, or of the girl herself. Daniel felt the knot in his stomach tighten the further away from the village they got. Long stretches of land were burnt where Ba'al's forces had struck.

A flash of anger loosened the knot as he thought about the Goa'uld. From what their contacts had told them once the gliders had left, Ba'al had taken to randomly attacking planets seeking SGC outposts. He hadn't even realized who was on Rhea, and somehow that made Daniel all the more furious.

He huffed a breath. Getting angry wasn't going to locate his only niece. Focusing on the land around him, he soon became lost in the methodical scanning of the plants and trees around them. Nothing glittered, and the color of the canvas sack did not catch his eyes among the green.

"Wait, just there!" Vala shouted, taking off through some damaged trees. Teal'c and Daniel shared concerned looks and immediately followed. When the had pushed aside a few fallen branches, they regained sight of Vala, kneeling down in front of something.

"Oh no...," Daniel said once she'd moved aside. It was Skaara's bag, of that there was no doubt. The robe Vala had given her earlier that day was on top of Skaara's most precious possessions. And beyond that...

"The Museum," Teal'c growled. Daniel felt the knot resume it's presence in his gut. Items he remembered cataloging were sticking out through the collapsed earth. They were things one of the dead SG teams had been assigned to transfer in the time leading up to Ba'al's invasion. Skaara would have taken refuge in the cavern. And there would be no way out.

So that was it. Daniel sank to his knees beside Vala. At the ruined village, they could say she escaped. But here...there was nowhere else she could have gone.

Vala slipped a supportive arm around his shoulders, her hand gently rubbing his opposite arm.

"We said we'd take care of her. I told Jack the day it happened..I _promised,"_he hissed. Vala merely leaned her head on his shoulder. Teal'c's expression he could not see, but when the man sat down beside him and offered a solid grip on his free shoulder, Daniel knew the discovery destroyed more than one washed-up archaeologist.

"Daniel, look at this. It is the entire epic, even the parts Uncle Danny told me were missing," Skaara breathed, eyes wide with the thrill of discovery. Daniel shifted over a few feet to look at her find, a series of long sections of temple wall in which the entire epic of Gilgamesh was indeed written.

"So we were right. This is incredible...thousands of years of history and here it is!"

"Fascinating, Danny-boy. Let Skaara take pictures. We have intel to gather," O'Neill groused.

Daniel looked sour for a moment, before handing Skaara the digital camera.

"And don't forget to-"

"Take the photos both vertically and horizontally, you told me when we got here," she shot back, letting a bit of affection into her tone. He was the Daniel she knew, after all, only far more excitable than her uncle. It was like watching a little boy on Christmas morning.

She waved him off to follow Jack and Sam, while Teal'c stationed himself in front of the temple entrance, where he could keep an eye on her and the others at the same time. Skaara turned the camera on and began the slow process of photographing the story of the long dead king.

It was one of the few stories she'd gotten to hear that she remembered, and one she loved for all it's talk of Gods and beasts.

"_And the Serpent rose up from the water," Uncle Danny said, moving one hand around like it was the snake," and ate the flower of life!" His fingers clamped down on her nose, making her squeal with __delight._

"_And then Gilgamesh knew his chance to be immortal was gone.."_

"...but the old man came to him and said 'Gilgamesh, King. Immortality belongs not to those who never change, but those who change the book of the world.'"

"Did you say something, Skaara Sha're?" Teal'c asked. Skaara blushed a little at being caught in her memory. But the Jaffa took no notice, a look of genuine interest on his face.

"I remembered being little and having my Uncle Danny tell me the story; hand gestures and everything."

"Ah, a pleasant recollection."

"Yes," she replied softly, inclining her head before returning to her work. Teal'c nodded as well, returning his eyes to his guard duty.

Suddenly something rumbled beneath them, which Skaara initially took as being a small earthquake. That was, until Daniel, Sam, and the Colonel ran yelling out of the temple doors. Daniel grabbed her by the arm, and Teal'c followed the others.

"Space Monkey!" O'Neill screamed angrily as they ran.

"How..was I..supposed..to know...the Bull of Heaven...was a Goa'uld weapon?" The archaeologist replied. Skaara turned her head for a moment, alarmed at what she saw coming after them. A giant mechanical bull, with the symbol of some lesser Goa'uld on it's forehead was rampaging after them. Skaara spared a moment to be amused in her Uncle Danny's honor before she picked up speed and raced behind her teammates for the gate.

"Bedtime stories, Daniel!," she huffed as the bull cried out behind them. Sam took off ahead and quickly dialed the gate. By the time O'Neill had pulled her up the steps, the wormhole had engaged and all five of them dove through the stargate. They landed in a heap on the other side, finding themselves inches away from General Hammond's feet.

Skaara looked up sheepishly at the exasperated look on the man's face.

"Sir, there's an explanation," hissed Sam, who was half under Skaara and half crushed by Daniel's chest," really."

Skaara found a smile sneaking onto her face despite herself as Hammond merely shook his head and ordered the lot of them to the briefing room in ten.


	15. A Very Important Date

Chapter XV: For a Very Important Date

On Rhea, time meant very little in anything but counting the years. Days happened with their schedule set by the sun's journey through the sky. So it came as a surprise to Skaara when she turned to the calender in her quarters and realized that enough days had gone by for it to be a week from her birthday. Almost three whole months.

She stood from her bed to regard herself in the mirror Sam had helped her pick out during her third week in this world. Her hair had grown just a bit, resting halfway down her back now, and her face seemed just a tad bit leaner. Otherwise she still saw a Jaffa warrior woman, only one wearing the uniform of an SG-1 soldier.

The sight of the patch still brought a strange emotion into her heart. She was content with the duty that allowed her to be useful, and quite proud of being SG-1 besides. Her parents would throw fits if they were alive.

But another part reminded her that she only wore the patch because she didn't exist here. Wasn't supposed to, if the behaviors of her parents' doubles was any indication. It gave her a restless feeling to think about her position among the Tau'ri—Skaara winced internally. Back home, Tau'ri, Jaffa, Abydosian...it didn't matter. But here, they were Tau'ri, she was Jaffa, and there was a huge chasm between them. No amount of completeness, of friendship, that her life among the original SG-1 has brought, could fix that.

She needed to see Teal'c. Her thoughts were becoming too clouded for even the lightest of kel no reem. She zipped up her jacket and left her quarters for his. Knocking softly, a gentle "enter" met her ears and she entered. The lighted candles immediately brought her a small amount of peace; many times she had sat with her Ari'ii in meditation. And as a little girl, she had slept near him during long sessions of kel no reem, lulled by the flickering light.

"Forgive my intrusion, Teal'c," she said, coming to face the warrior, who sat cross legged to her right.

"It is no bother. I am often called upon when the hearts of my allies are troubled."

Skaara smiled sheepishly," Am I that transparent?"

"Only to a Jaffa. The Tau'ri value privacy to the point of willfully ignoring such things. Please, sit, and speak." Skaara nodded, taking a mirror position across from Teal'c and then looking down at her hands where they lay folded in her lap.

"My thoughts are...overwhelming," she began," I am both content in my duty here, yet painfully aware I am not home. But Earth in my own world isn't even home, Rhea is."

"And you are restless as a result."

"Indeed."

Teal'c raised his eyebrow in his characteristic expression at the familiar words coming from her lips, but bowed his head in understanding," I can only advise endurance in this matter. Perhaps there are other ways to return you. Your family may still uncover The Museum you spoke of. We cannot know. For now, continue as you always have. You have survived much trauma, Skaara Sha're. I feel you can do this."

Skaara bowed her head, letting Teal'c's words sink in. He was right, of course; she'd been one of dozens of orphaned children over the years, as many of her parent's comrades in arms had been allowed to bring their families through to Rhea before the final assault. They all had nightmares like those that haunted her sleep even in this reality. Teal'c must have noticed her lack of sleep more so than the others.

"I will do all I can. But I fear I will never be free until Ba'al is dead back home."

Teal'c smiled thinly," Indeed. All Jaffa must die free."

Skaara stood and bowed herself out into the hall. The frustration still ran deep in her heart, but the mere act of talking to Teal'c calmed her, much as it had the night before the attack on Rhea. He was right, she could only rely on her ability to live despite everything else. As long as she drew breath, she had a chance; to go home; to stop Ba'al here or in her own universe. Her life could be worth something.

Stepping into her quarters a minute later, she returned to the stack of books Daniel had been steadily supplying her with and began to read.

* * *

"It's her birthday next week."

Of all the things to come out of Samantha Carter's mouth, that had to be the last thing Jack would ever expect. Especially seeing as how uncomfortable the whole idea of Skaara's parentage had been for her. She'd had to look at what amounted to her O'Neill-altered clone for almost three months now, and while the young woman had proven herself an asset, the personal aspect of her presence had barely been touched upon. Not that he'd asked either, but still...

"You remembered?"

"Well...," Carter looked back down at her Jello," she did tell us."

Jack had to force himself not to call her on the fact that Skaara said three months, but never specified a date. Of course, nagged that little voice he was usually so good at suppressing, he knew the exact day as well. But he wasn't telling Carter that. No need for a wrong impression.

The little voice gave a frustrated sigh and fell silent.

"And?"

"Do you think she's ever had a real birthday party since Ba'al's attack?"

Jack smiled. Neutral as his second in command kept her face, her compassion was still readily apparent to someone who knew her well. He knew she couldn't help but feel like she had to improve the lots of others. It was a trait Jack was always surprised remained in as experienced a soldier as Carter was. His mind supplied an image of Skaara—the male Skaara—and shrugged mentally. Guess he was in the same boat in some ways.

"Someone say birthday party?"

Jack snorted. Daniel's timing was perfectly in tune with Sam's, as usual. He nodded to the younger man as he sat down with his tray.

"Sam here thinks we should do something for Skaara's 17th."

"That makes sense. Teal'c said 17 is of age for a young Jaffa. Skaara said she was going to join the fight in her world because of it, once she had her birthday."

"No way in-," Jack began, quickly swallowing his words when he realized what he'd meant to say. No way in Hell was his daughter going to fight a war.

Daniel hastily dug into his pasta, as if he knew exactly what Jack was thinking. He probably did, knowing their insightful little space monkey. Jack took a sip of orange juice in the silence, but caught Carter's gaze in doing so.

She'd never looked at him like that before. Concern he knew, and it partially colored the expression in her eyes, but there was something parental about the look; a shared worry between moms and dads that had absolutely no place between a superior and a subordinate. Between Sam and Jack, Skaara's parents, it would be natural and right. But between himself and Carter? No, not even going there. It couldn't.

"Alright then. My place, Tuesday. I'll call for Thai. And someone get a cake. Can't have a party without cake. Chocolate cake."

Carter smiled at his insistence on chocolate, and once again Jack was forced to tell himself it had nothing to do with his feelings that his stomach gave a pleasant lurch.

Now if he could only make it true.


End file.
